Oakland Athletics: 2013 Recap and 2014 Predictions

This season was truly a sensational season for the Oakland Athletics, albeit a quiet one compared to the also spectacular season they had in 2012, winning the AL West on the final day of the season. Hopes were higher for the Athletics in 2013, returning with their team pretty much intact the odds of a repeat in the AL West were good. The Athletics won two more games in 2013 (96-66) than in 2012 (94-68) and they did it in a much more subdued fashion. The A's fought through injuries, Josh Reddick's wrist being one of the biggest, yet had enough depth to remain consistent. They won at least 16 games in each month of the season except July where they experienced a slight slump but that didn't put a hiccup in their step as they ended the season with their second consecutive American League West Title, making them a good candidate for World Series victory.

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Unfortunately for the Athletics the 2013 American League Division Series ended in the exact same fashion as the 2012 ALDS, being shut out by Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers in game five. What went right for the A's in 2013 to get them back to the postseason? And what went wrong for them to lose again to the same team and the same pitcher in game five of the ALDS?

The Athletics were dominant all season, more than once stringing together mini streaks of 8 or 9 games. They had dominate pitching in CY Young candidate 40 year old Bartolo Colon and later on with mid season call up Sonny Gray. Closer Grant Balfour broke Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley's consecutive save streak with 41 straight saves. The two other notable names of the A's bullpen were set up men Sean Doolittle and Ryan Cook along with long relievers Jesse Chavez (who pitched an amazing 7 innings in the 18 inning marathon against the New York Yankees in July) Pat Neshek and Jerry Blevins. The A's bats were on the majority of the time but more often than not they relied on the big hit or the big home run from one of their players, like 1B Brandon Moss, 3B Josh Donaldson, CF Coco Crisp and in the case of the aforementioned 18 inning game, rookie Nate Freiman hitting a walk off single against the great Mariano Rivera.

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Relying on the big hit became a problem for the A's in the playoffs when they were required to hit against the Tigers three aces, 21 game winner Max Scherzer, ERA leader Anibal Sanchez, and the always incredible Justin Verlander. The A's won the second game of the series with young call up Sonny Gray out pitching Verlander and the third game in Detroit again depending on the long ball. Come game five the Athletics were forced to face their nemesis, Justin Verlander, an almost unhittable pitcher, who took a no hitter into the 7th inning until Yoenis Cespedes's base hit in the bot of the 7th inning broke up the no-no. The problem is that Detroit got their one long 2 run shot off of Sonny Gray courtesy of Miguel Cabrera and ended up winning the game 3-0 while the A's were waiting for that one big long ball that never came.

In short the A's need a big, dependable and possibly even well known bat in 2014. It's the consensus of many that they must bring someone in to help the lineup a little bit. However, there are definite chances that those big hits could come from guys like Reddick who played all season with a wrist injury and finished with only 12 homeruns while the year before he hit 32 homeruns and won a Gold Glove. Brandon Moss hit 30 homeruns this season so there is a good chance that he could emerge into the spolightlight the way another of the A's, Josh Donaldson, did this season. Cespedes is another candidate to be a great homerun hitter next season hoping that he stays healthy, he won the Home Run derby in 2013 but did not produce as well in regular season games. Finally when it comes to clutch hits one cannot forget to mention team leader and all around clutch guy, Coco Crisp.

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All of these players, barring a crazy unforseen trade should be on the A's roster come opening day 2014. Even though all of these players have proven themselves offensively, the question remains: will the A's try to acquire a big bat?

There are rumors that the A's will trade players like started turned long reliever, Brett Anderson and there have been rumors that they may be interested in acuiring David Price. Still this doesn't seem likely as the A's are in talks with Bartolo Colon about pitching another season. Colon, at the age of 40 and having spent a stint on the disabled list, still finished second overall in the American League in both ERA and Wins! He had one of his lifetime best seasons and the A's believe that he has a few more years in him. They have already resigned team leader, 33 year old, Coco Crisp who is coming off of a career year. Overall it is not likely that they A's will be making too many changes to their already talented roster. At this point closer Grant Balfour isn't in that picture. At 35 and having had the best year of his career, Balfour can command more money than the A's would be able and/or willing to pay. But there have been talks about mid season call up Dan Otero stepping up in the closer's role, Doolittle and Cooke (who did struggle at the end of the season) are also in contention. for the closer roll.

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It is likely that the A's will find a strong bat to add to their roster. More than likely an aging player who is happy to DH and hit home runs, ala the sucess they had in 2002 with David Justice and in 2006 with Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas. The Athletics will not be renewing contracts or picking up options for neither OF Chris Young nor catcher Kurt Suzuki, leaving Derek Norris and John Jaso to platoon at catcher. Besides them and Balfour there are questions about rookie Nate Freiman and if he will be involved in the club's plans for next season. In the off season both Sonny Gray (left thumb) and Josh Reddick (wrist) will be having surgery but both are projected to be ready to go when pitchers and catchers report to spring training in the middle of February.

From the perspective of this writer I believe that the 2014 Oakland Athletics line up will look something like this:

Coco Crisp, CF
Josh Donaldson, 3B
Jed Lowrie, SS
Brandon Moss, 1B
Yoenis Cespedes, LF
Josh Reddick, RF
Seth Smith, DH
John Jaso and Derek Norris platooning at C
Eric Sogard / Alberto Callaspo platooning at 2B

But this line up does need to look out for up and coming players such as the AAA afiliate Sacramento River Cats Michael Choice who's shown potential and hit .302 last season with 14 home runs. And this pick may seem premature but after his performances in spring training, with the A's single A affliate the Stockton Ports and his so far impressive numbers in the Arizona fall league, Addison Russell has the potential to do big things in the Majors and it is entirely possible he could work his way to AAA Sacramento and into the show by the end of the 2014 seasons. It's also a good idea to keep an on relief pitchers Seth Frankoff and Bruce Billings who both pitched brilliantly in 2013 for the Ports and should soon be called up to AAA and possibly to the show by the end of the season! But predictions for the Atheltics pitching in 2014 are as follows

Starting Rotaton:
Bartolo Colon
Sonny Gray
Jarrod Parker
Dan Straily
AJ Griffen

The Bullpen:
Jerry Blevins
Sean Doolittle
Ryan Cooke
Jesse Chavez
Pat Neshek
Dan Otero

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Overall with a very similar team as in 2013 and with the continued leadership of 2012 Manager of the Year, Bob Melvin, the Athletics will have a chance to win the American League West for the third straight time. It will as with all teams depend on staying healthy and in the Athletics case keeping their bats alive. The A's pitching will be solid with the resigning of Colon and the talent in their farm system. The addition of a proven hitter might be the key to them finally getting past the American Division series for the first time since 2006.

*This posting can also be seen on Sports Unbiased (actually proof-read and edited! lol)* at http://sportsunbiased.com/mlb/18258/oakland-athletics-2013-recap-and-2014-predictions/

MLB 2013 Playoffs: Oakland Athletics Prediction

REGULAR SEASON FINISH:

1st Place in AL West

RECORD:
96-66

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES OPPONENT:
Detroit Tigers

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The Oakland Athletics came out of the 2013 regular season in the same place they miraculously finished in, in 2012, atop the American League (AL) West. The back to back AL West Champions had 96 wins this season and only 66 losses, tying Atlanta with the third best record in the Majors.

The A's will have home field advantage hosting the Detroit Tigers at O.Co Coliseum in Oakland, CA in a rematch of the 2012 American League Division Series (ALDS). Last season the Tigers players told the press it was the “loudest” stadium they'd ever played in. This year with the removal of the tarps from the Coliseum's third deck will add another 12,000 fans into the mix. About returning to Oakland the Tigers players have been paying the outlandish fanatics in the East Bay some compliments telling The Detriot News:

“It was the loudest and craziest venue I’ve ever played in as far as baseball. It was an absolute madhouse; it was pretty fun to play in,” catcher Alex Avila said. “It was definitely one of the loudest stadiums I’ve ever been in and one of the rowdiest and craziest.”

“Last year, I remember it being loud — and they didn’t even have the third deck then so I’m sure it’ll be louder this year,” relief pitcher Drew Smyly said. “I felt the atmosphere. It was the loudest of the playoffs, all three stops (Oakland, New York and San Francisco) we made.”

“Being loud — that’s what really sticks out in my head,” center fielder Austin Jackson said, “It’s the atmosphere being unreal and playing against a really tough team that didn’t want to give up.

So will the hometown crowd help the A's? The Oakland Athletics “fAnily” as the regulars call each other are prepared to rattle the bones of even the most stoic pitcher (good luck playing the A's tonight Mr. Scherzer). Says one Season Ticket Holder (STH) from 128:

“We ARE practically family. We like to say 'fAnily' and with the advent of social media we've connected STH and die hard fans from all areas of the stadium. We take trips and have get together and one thing we do very well is organize. With what we have planned for the Tigers this year, well, loud is going to be an understatement!”

So the Oakland fans could be a key component in an Oakland series victory. 

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An obvious key will be Bartolo Colon. At 40 years old, Colon is listed as 265lbs but appears to be well over 300lbs. Also at 40 years old Colon finished the season with 2.65 ERA (second in the AL), 8 wins (also second in the AL), the league's fewest walks and a legitimate case to be considered for the CY Young Award. And Colon's done it all with a smile on his face. A strong start in game one and his presence in the clubhouse will help guys like rookie starting pitcher Sonny Gray stay confident.

All season long the A's bullpen has been one of the team's greatest assets. With Jerry Blevins, Brett Anderson and Jesse Chavez the A's are well covered if in need of long relief but the A's real weapon is the one, two, three punch of Ryan Cook, Sean Dolittle and the famously fouled mouthed Aussie and A's all time consecutive saves leader Grant Balfour. Although Cook and Balfour have had a few recent struggles but if all three of these guys bring their A game along with five or six solid innings from an Oakland starter the A's could be all but un hittable.

Because of such stellar pitching the A's have the ability to win on the long ball alone. On some days they can only muster one three run shot but most of the time it's enough. Another key to the A's postseason success is that guys who have really stepped up offensively this season need to stay hot. Coco Crisp has the most home runs of his career, Brandon Moss became the first Athletic since Eric Chavez in 2002 to hit 30 home runs in a single season and Josh Donaldson managed to end the season with a batting average of .301 and 24 bombs.

On the A's there are many platoon positions so they are experienced just coming off the bench offensively and defensively. Catchers Derek Norris and Stephen Vogt are both know for their pinch hitting heroics and Eric Sogard,now know not just for his glasses but for his quick glove and outstanding defense in playing both short stop and second bass often platoons with Alberto Callaspo and Jed Lowrie at those positions. All three of those guys are experienced in coming off the bench at any time in the game. The Athletics have have extraordinary depth for a team with the league's third lowest payroll and will be hard to beat.

For the A's to be able to lock down the whole show here in 2013 players like Rookie Yoenis Cespedes and 2012 Gold Glover Josh Reddick need to step up and bring their A games to the yard this weekend. Both have been plagued by injuries during the season and never really got on an offensive track, yet both are very capable of going deep or getting a key hit. Cespedes is the reigning Home Run Derby Champion but all that power hasn't quiet translated to the field this season. But this is now the postseason time to see a little more of the “Cuban Missile” if the A's want to win it all. Both Cespedes and Reddick need to take their games to the next level, regardless Tigers will no doubt find out why the slogan is “Don't Run On Reddick.” These two guys have what it takes they just need to remain healthy and play more consistently in the postseason.

Although the A's are known for their stellar defense they have been plagued by errors in 2013. The errors seem to come in clusters making the Athletics look flat out sloppy, even lazy at times. Though they are far above sloppy and lazy, one sloppy game could cost them an entire series and it would be “see ya next season” something almost every member on this team has heard before and doesn't want to hear again. Just ask the Angels' Josh Hamilton about errors in important games and he surely note his debacle in Oakland in the season's final game, giving Oakland the insurance runs they needed to solidify their place at the 2012 AL Western Division Champions.

This year the Athletics are a more mature group of experienced players, not an entire team of rookies though there always are a few new guys. They have the depth, power and pitching to potentially go all the way to the World Series but they can't let any little errors get in their way.

MLB 2013 PLAYOFF PREDICTION:

Oakland Athletics – 11 Wins; 2013 World Series Champions

**A more polished version of this blog post is available at http://sportsunbiased.com/mlb/16607/mlb-2013-playoffs-oakland-athletics-prediction/